At Midnight
by Kurumi-tan
Summary: "Well perfect, then give me good news, Bruce" When Tony finds out he will be a father, nothing is near to being as sweet as honey. After the events with Killian, the man is closer than ever to have anxiety attacks... again; and of course, to push certain scientific closer to the green scale.
1. The Perfect Recipe For Disaster

Sunlight streamed through the giant window, completely illuminating the room, but Pepper didn't wake up until she heard a voice calling her.

"We are going to the doctor, hon."

"Huh? Agh… Tony, I just woke up. I already feel better, really…"

"Pepper, it's midday," the engineer said, frowning slightly.

It had been just two months since the incident with Killian, and Stark needed more time before he would be able to be away from Pepper without worrying. Or, in this case, to stop bothering for her if she felt unwell. In the early morning, Tony had woken up, alone, in bed.

"Pepper?" he called, standing up with squinting eyes. He saw the light on in the bathroom.

"Are you okay?" He walked slowly to the bathroom, but quickened his pace when he heard loud groans. "I'll take that as a no," he muttered under his breath.

Pepper's body curved into the toilet as she heaved the entire contents of her stomach into it. Her hair stuck to her face, eyes irritated from the effort.

"Oh God. Tony, I don't want you to see me like this!" groaned the blonde before lurching back over the toilet.

"That's nonsense," Tony gently moved her hair to the side. "Jarvis, wake up Banner"

"Tony, no..."

"Honey, I usually listen to you, but I'm not the one throwing up at dawn," he said wryly.

"I feel better already." Pepper sat on the floor in a cold sweat, but really was feeling better. "I don't want you to wake Bruce up for something like this. You'll make him regret living here."

Tony sighed. "If it makes you feel more comfortable we can see a different doctor . At that Pepper screwed up her face.

Will you at least let me take you to the doctor in the morning?" He asked worrying .

"Only if I don't feel better, and only if you let me go back to sleep until then."

"Sounds fair. Can you tell me what happened?"

Pepper rolled her eyes. "It's nothing Tony, I stood up too fast when I got up for a glass of water and felt nauseous, that's all. Let's go back to bed, okay? I'm tired."

And even though Pepper denied it, Tony could still see the pallor of her face at noon. Jarvis' scanners only detected dehydration, but could not explain the morning's events.

"I think it would be better to call Banner"

"Tony, we talked about this," it was Pepper's turn to frown "you're just going to make him angry"

" He's not going to turn green just because..."

" ... I didn't say green, just annoyed, Stark" She let out a sigh.

When she woke up again less than half an hour passed before Tony took her to the hospital. Pepper would've been red with embarrassment if she hadn't been so dehydrated. She was embarrassed that her mate had taken her to such an ostentatious place just because she was dizzy and had one sleepless night.

Having ruled out a stomach virus, Pepper was taken away for a blood sample. Tony could only cover his mouth in an unsuccessful attempt to conceal his concern.

An hour passed before they got the results, at which time Pepper was in bad mood, missing breakfast and not eating all day. Both were on the verge of a nervous breakdown (out of concern and hunger respectively), when the doctor finally arrived with the results.

"Sit down, please," he said politely, pointing to the seats in front of his elegant desk.

"Is it that serious?" asked the engineer, becoming more and more tempted to chew at his nails. Pepper shook her head.

"Just because I offered you a seat doesn't mean it's a bad news , Mr. Stark." He gestured toward the chairs again, "Please."

Tony took his wife's hand, and as soon as they sat down, the doctor smiled and continued.

"It is big news, but not necessarily bad news. Congratulations, Miss Potts is pregnant."

Pepper's face lit up with excitement, and Tony... Tony could not digest the new information. He? A dad? Just a few months ago he was trying to stop an alien invasion, and a god had that had caused not one, but two incidents on Earth. He had teamed with the world's rarest subjects on the planet, his best friend was green and, to top it all off, he had made a few enemies along the way. How was he going to have a baby knowing what was out there? How could he be a father while trying to deal with so many important problems?

On top of all that, he was not thrilled about having to change diapers or deal with the constant crying, but the truth was, none of those things really scared him. His real hesitation came from the fact that he did not want to repeat his own father's mistakes. He wanted to prove to himself that he was a better man than Howard.

"Wait, pregnant? Are you sure?" Tony glanced at Pepper, with an almost indecipherable mixture of happiness and disbelief.

"Yeah, pretty sure. The blood tests confirm it. With you morning sickness being this bad my guess is that you are three months along, but we'll know for sure once we run more tests ."

Tony felt his blood freeze. Three months? Pepper had received an injection with the Extremis virus from Killian, just two months ago. If she really had been pregnant that time then…

_For god's sake…_

"I need Banner!"


	2. Just Add A Little Bit Of Nervousness

"Tony, I know you're nervous about this, but this won't help Pepper".

Banner adjusted his glasses to check the test results granted by the clinic.

"Then you better give me good news, Bruce", the engineer snorted. He seemed to be on the verge of an anxiety crisis and his hostility was making his science-bro nervous.

An hour ago, Tony had entered the lab as white as paper, practically running to grab him by the shoulders. Bruce had looked at him without knowing what to do, and then Tony babbled almost imperceptibly: "Pepper is pregnant."

"What...?" the Physicist had asked almost automatically.

"Pepper is pregnant and it's my fault …" answered the brunet. He fell into the nearest chair, resting his elbows on his knees and hiding his face in his hands, unable to see the confusion on his friend's face.

Bruce had always been sure this would happen at some point, but in his head he had pictured Tony breaking this news to him in quite a different way. Like Tony coming in screaming happily that he would be a father and that he, Bruce, would be an uncle.

"Tony, I don't see why that's ba …"

"No, Bruce, you don't get it. Pepper was already pregnant when Killian took her…" And everything instantly clicked in the Scientist's brain.

"Are you sure?" He asked, moving his glasses to hide the sudden fear and nervousness that assaulted him. It didn't help that Tony was clearly experiencing the same terror.

The engineer pulled a crumpled sheet from his pants pocket and handed it to him. Bruce scanned the page with due care. They settled into a long silence, each one meditating on their own things, before beginning to argue.

" Listen to me ... if you want me to do a DNA analysis we need to wait two more months at least…

"Oh sure! And while we wait, the opportunity for Pepper to let me do something to avoid that…

"Oh my God! Are you listening, Tony? " Bruce interrupted, definitely not going to let him finish that sentence. " The baby is barely three months old! And you are willing to risk losing your baby when there is a chance he doesn't even have the virus?!"

Tony looked at him, suddenly feeling completely powerless.

"What if we're wrong?" He muttered through his teeth. Bruce was speechless. If anyone knew what it was like to have something uncontrollable in their genes, it was him. "Do you want me to wait to see if Virginia becomes a living bomb?"

Bruce closed his eyes tightly and forced himself to control his breathing. Apparently, his best friend did not care that he could Hulk-out inside the tower.

"This is madness, Tony …" he finally muttered. "What you're asking for is madness. Everyone deserves a second chance, but you are not even willing to give this kid a first one? " He asked in a low voice and immediately looked at the ground sadly. "We can figure this out, Tony".

His gaze turned internally, thoughtful. Deep down, the Scientist knew that the virus was dangerous, that if the body did not accept the Extremis at all, it became a ticking bomb. However, if three months had gone by without an incident, it was quite likely that there was no longer such a risk. And truth be told, he could not see himself snatching a life that was just beginning to form.

"We have to wait a little longer. If we do this now we could also be putting Pepper at risk" he spoke again, looking at his friend again. "I'm only asking for two more months."

Tony did not return his gaze, choosing rather to look at the floor, weighing that idea. If it turned out that the ... baby was completely healthy, he would be making the biggest mistake of his life. But if he had the virus running through his veins and reacted badly to any stimulus…

"I'll give you a month and a half, Banner ... I don't have that much time.

Once Tony had left, Bruce allowed himself to collapse on the laboratory floor. Living with Stark had taught him one thing: the engineer did not see it as a negative that the other guy went out for a walk around his house once in a while. In reality, he was crazy enough for pushing him into it on some occasions.

He remembered the breathing and control exercises that he had learned - it seemed to him now - too many years ago. By now he did them almost unconsciously, knowing it would help. He took deep breaths and the tremor in his body slowly drifted away; even so he put his hands to his ears, not knowing if he felt angry or powerless. He was definitely angry at Tony. Bruce would give anything to have a normal life, to have children and watch them grow ... and there was Tony Stark, willing to throw something so precious out the window. He understood his friend's fears, they were definitely valid, but ...

He remembered then the time Natasha went to recruit him in Calcutta.

_"And what if the… Other guy says no?"_

_"You've been more than a year without an incident. I don't think you want to break that streak"_

And absently he had rocked a cradle before answering. The cradle that symbolised all that he longed for, but could never have.

_"I don't everytime get what I want."_

He had the feeling that Pepper was not really at risk. In his mind there was no way for a baby to kill his mother, not even unconsciously.

But if he put himself in Tony's place, the idea of the mother of his baby and the baby himself dying…

No way he would allow that. If three months had gone by without incident, then he was willing to believe that six more could pass the same way. They would take all possible precautions to make sure that little angel would get to meet the world.

Thanks to the old training, Bruce stayed sitting in the laboratory for a long time in total silence, thoughts and ideas storming in his mind ... But no matter how much he tried, he could not find any sense in them. He was lethargic and crestfallen, but the sound of his watch brought him back to reality. With numb muscles and stinging in his eyes, he looked at the time and realized that it had been almost two hours since he had argued with Tony. He ran his hands over his face and, getting up from the floor, he removed the excess dust of his pants. He glanced at the evidence with a soft sigh, and then headed for the exit. JARVIS turned off the light as soon as he left the place and the lights in the hallway went on while he walked, until he reached the elevator.

" What floor are you headed to, Dr. Banner?"

" I think I'll go to the kitchen for a tea …"

"As you like."

The doors opened, giving way to the main room located on the top floors of the tower, only two floors above the laboratory. He crossed the room and went into the kitchen, turned on the light to take a teapot from the mantelpiece and fill it almost entirely with tap water. He turned the knob of the stove and placed the teapot on top, leaving the fire to do its job while he remained absorbed in his thoughts, now a little more coherent. He leaned lightly on the top looking at the ceiling while waiting for the water to boil, but the trance of looking at nothing did not last long.

He managed to listen to a few soft sobs coming from the next room, and he really did not need to poke his head to know who it was... but he did it anyway.

Pepper was in the huge circular couch in the center, covering half of her face with one hand, crying quietly. For a moment Bruce wished he had not gone up to the kitchen, but he did not want to leave her alone either; she was also part of her "family," despite not talking as much to her as he did to his science-bro.

"Pepper? ... I, uh ... I'm making tea. Do you want some? " he asked softly.

Pepper raised her head and did not even pretend that she was not crying, it was not worth it.

"Oh, Bruce, I ... I'm sorry you saw me like that," she said, and wiping away her tears with one hand, clearly embarrassed. "I wouldn't mind something warm, thanks" she added with a sad smile.

"Don't worry, Pepper. Wait a moment, I'll bring it to you."

Bruce removed the teapot and after preparing the tea and placing a couple of sugar cubes on a napkin, returned to the room and took a seat next to Pepper while leaving the tray on the coffee table. She was still wiping away tears.

"I did not know if you wanted sugar," he muttered as he gave her a cup and pointed at the sugar cubes.

"Thanks, Bruce. It's very sweet of you, "she said and dropped the two cubes in her tea to then blow a little and take a sip.

"It was nothing," he murmured back and also drank. "Do you want to tell me what happened?" he added.

"I know you know already, Bruce. The first thing he did was going to the lab to look for you." She said, holding her mug between her hands for comfort. She stared at the tea for a little to long before talking again. "You know, of every scenario I had in mind, I did not expect Tony to lock himself in the room with alcohol." The strawberry blonde was starting to get mad and frustrated, "I mean, I get it, the baby was already there a few months ago, but this...?"

"Pepper …" Bruce tried.

"Worst thing is, I know what he is thinking. If he went straight to you, he believes our baby is a threat…"

_Oh dear_, Bruce thought. It would not take a month for Pepper to love that baby; She already did.

He left his cup on the table so that he could take her from the shoulders and rub them in a gesture that he did not do very often, but that now perhaps would reassure her", I don't think he would get rid of him, but the truth is that we still do not know if the virus is a danger to both of you or not. Still, I believe you'll be fine" assured the Physicist with a conviction that he really did not feel, not quite. "In a month I'll do a full DNA study to rule out the virus, all right? And in case it appears ... I'm sure Tony would do the same thing he did with you" he sighed suddenly understanding his friend a little more". As for his behavior ... I think Tony is terrified of losing you. Either way, I think someone should hide his alcohol for a while."

The latter made Pepper laugh a little and nodded, giving Bruce a grateful look.

* * *

It was already four in the afternoon and Pepper had fallen asleep in the huge chair with a soft blanket covering her. Bruce put some blackberries in his mouth and went down to his room, where he collapsed on the bed to relax a bit and try to forget the matter for a few moments. Not a minute had passed that the telephone rang.

"No, Natasha. The other guy has not killed Tony yet" he immediately said somehow irritated, without giving the spy a chance to speak at all.

Every day he received a call at about the same time, to see how he handled his stress levels now that he lived in the tower with Tony. Natasha sustained that his anger was only temporary and eventually he would learn to control the Hulk, but the truth was that Bruce suspected that she only called to see how the other guy behaved.

"Wow, Stark was that bad with you today, huh? " He heard the woman say, imagining her raising an eyebrow.

"It's not him, it's his head that has a problem" he responded just to immediately pause and close his eyes. Maybe he was talking too much, he definitely did not need Fury on their tail now.

"Oh yeah? And what do you think he has in his head?"

"It's nothing, agent Romanoff. We are talking about Tony afterall …"

"Banner …" she said calmly, but in her tone there was distinguished authority.

"Nat …"

"Bruce, if it makes you relax, I won't tell Fury a thing. I promise."

"Same way you told me that we were alone and there were hundreds of agents surrounding me?" He asked irritated.

Natasha sighed heavily.

"This time it's for real. How much longer must it take for you to trust me?"

Bruce knew that she would not stop until she found out what was going on in the tower and what had made him so grumpy.

He let out a sight in defiance "Tony …" he started and took a deep breath, pressing his eyes as if the spy were in front of him, knowing the last thing he wanted to see would be her reaction to what he was about to say. "Tony is going to be a father."

Bruce refused to open his eyes, he felt that if he did Natasha would materialize in front of him and even if she didn't , it was easy to imagine her expression. It didn't help that the other side of the line remained silent. Was she surprised? Happy? Maybe she was stone faced, not giving out her concerns.

"How long ago and with whom? " He suddenly heard. Of all the conjectures she made, the Physicist was surprised she had to ask who the mother was. .

"Pepper. It's already three months old" he answered almost automatically. He had not noticed until then how much he wanted to share this emotional baggage with someone else.

"That's not what's bothering you, Bruce. Tell me what is really happening," she said calmly, but he knew she was intrigued.

"She was injected with the Extremis almost at the beginning of her pregnancy" he finally answered, swallowing. "Tony thinks that if the baby was affected by the virus it could become unstable and hurt Pepper, so he wants …"

"To get rid of it" she completed the sentence, this time in a calm voice.

They both knew that Tony would never allow Pepper to suffer any harm, but getting rid of a child was something that for him and her overstepped the limits.

"Things are not going well in the tower, Nat. Tony is probably drowned in alcohol and Pepper is a mess. I think… I think I need help, but please, don't tell Fury. He would only torment Tony and things could get worse," he said a little altered.

"Fury won't know a thing, I promise. I'll be in the tower in a few hours, Bruce. Maybe if Steve comes with me and talks to Tony …"

"Honestly, I think Steve would make him more angry, and Pepper would be more frustrated than she already is. But she'll probably feel better with you here."

"I'll be there tonight. Take care of Pepper until then."

"Deal."

There was a second of silence, until Bruce heard Natasha take a little breath. "Don't try to save the world by yourself, Big Guy. Even you have limits and we are a team, remember?

"I'll try to remember it more often, Nat."

"Seems fair to me. See you in a bit, Bruce."

The redhead cut the call and Bruce stood there staring at his phone.

" ... Did she called me "Big Guy"? "


	3. Because you always need a friend

In the last three hours, Tony had gone from locking himself in his room to doing the exact same thing in the lab. Bruce had fed and hydrated Pepper while waiting for the arrival of his redheaded partner. At least Pepper could already make use of her own bed, the problem was that Banner didn't want to see Tony in the lab while he was drunk, so he used the main room as a reading center. He had genetic books, mutations, and pregnancies scattered all over the coffee table, but he was reading the second title of genetic mutations that had fallen into his hands. The clock struck seven.

"Wow, anyone who sees you would think that you are the one who is going to be a father" the spy tried not to startle him too much and then looked at the books on the coffee table. Bruce took off his glasses and set his book aside.

_I wish_, the physicist thought.

"Natasha," the scientist looked tired. "I did not hear you arrive."

"Missed me, Doc?" She walked to where Banner was sitting and touched him affectionately on the shoulder in greeting, before getting behind him and recharging her arms on the back of the couch. Bruce just gave her a tired smile, happy to have someone to share his stress with. "So, how is your research going?"

"I'm not sure if I should be scared or if the reading reassures me, although I still have a lot to read."

"When is Stark planning to act?" The girl didn't know if she should knock out the playboy now or if she had to wait.

"He gave me a month and a half to wait for the baby to grow bigger so I can perform a DNA analysis."

They both stared at the stack of books in silence for a few moments. Natasha wondered if she should also start reading them, but she let out a soft sigh and looked at Banner.

"You're not reading anything you don't know already, Bruce..."

"I am preparing for the worst ... Tony can separate the virus from his DNA if it's the same one that was injected to Pepper and hasn't mutated, but even if it has, the baby should be able to adapt to it…. I hope. We have to be able to figure this out…."

"But…?" The Russian looked carefully at the man in front of her.

"He received the virus at an early stage of its development, so he may accept it and mix with it, which would make a separation impossible because it would kill him. I am reading this to see if I can make a scheme that will help me to act if the case arose" he looked frustrated at the floor. "I don't know what I'm going to do with Tony if that happens.

"How much does Pepper know? " The redhead asked. During the time she pretended to be his assistant, Pepper was the closest thing to a friend she had, aside from Laura.

"She assumes that the baby can become unstable over time, just as it could have happened to her. This situation may not last even a month."

"Well, I'm here now. I'll see what I can do with Tony when he is not that drunk. I also think I know what to do to cheer Pepper" now she was smiling, largely to reassure him. If things went wrong, at least Pepper deserved to enjoy those days without Tony reeking of alcohol and Bruce not being on the verge of having a green code.

"Oh God ... did you go through the lab?" He covered his face with his hands, in frustration. As much as he loved Tony as a brother, he knew that if he went beyond the assassin's patience things could go VERY bad.

"I just took a look. He is completely asleep and everything has an aroma to whatever it is that has him so drunk these hours. I threw a half-full bottle to the trash and plan to remove all the liquor in the tower from his reach, at least until things calm down."

"Thanks Natasha, really."

* * *

The next morning, Anthony had a severe headache and a dry throat. He spent the night on the lab floor and his whole body was protesting in pain. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he encountered was a girl with reddish hair sitting cross-legged on a chair in front of him.

"I think I took too much" the engineer sat up and sat on the floor watching her.

"You think?" The assassin looked at him coldly.

"And now it's talking to me" Tony got up awkwardly and looked at the bottles he had left on the floor, mentally reading the brand. "Jarvis, don't let me buy those bottles again." Natasha got up and pinched Tony's side, to which Tony responded with a pained gesture. "Oh no, she's real."

"If you do something to Pepper I'll break you a rib."

"Excuse me, do something to Pepper? I'm trying to _save_ her!" The engineer was starting to get irritated and his headache became slightly worse.

"By getting drunk?" Natasha arched an eyebrow "Yes, now I see why she is so worried."

"Look Romanoff, I needed a distraction, ok? Brucie won't let me do anything" the man ran a hand through his hair.

"Pepper won't let you either because she is not willing to lose it. You fixed her, right? You can do the same with your son."

"Not if it becomes unstable. Why doesn't anyone understand it?" Tony hit one of the lab's desks. The tone of his voice was strong and deep. He seemed on the verge of crying in frustration "I'm not upset because Peps is going to have my child, I'm upset because I could lose both of them and nobody lets me do anything!" A chair flew out thanks to a strong kick from him. Natasha sighed.

"Tony ..." she looked at the man from top to bottom, but he had the body almost with his back to her, with his hand covering his mouth, under which he bit his lips hard, and a fist resting on his hip. " We are not trying to kill Pepper. We are trying to save both of them. And Stark, you should be with her, she feels very lonely."

" … I'll try. But first I need bottled value" Stark set out to find another bottle outside the lab, but before he could leave Natasha interrupted him.

"Good luck" the girl smiled to herself, already wanting to see it when he doesn't find a single drop of alcohol in the whole building. Oh and Tony, if you think about seeing Pepper" she gave him a critical look "take a shower before."

* * *

There was not a single corner Tony had not searched for. And there he was sitting on the kitchen floor, his head leaning on the counter.

"Natasha!" The man shouted, as if he had discovered a child doing a prank, but didn't get an answer.

He got up quickly and went down to the rooms in order to find her, but each and every one of them was empty, although perhaps if he didn't have a hangover it would have occurred to him to ask Jarvis, who conveniently remained silent. He then went to the laboratory to check if by chance she was there, but the one he found was Bruce, who looked at some papers while waiting for the distillation of a blue liquid.

"Bruce, have you seen Natasha?" Tony poked his head through the glass door.

"I think she said she was taking Pepper for a walk" the scientist didn't look away from his notes, still focused on them.

"Well… I suppose it'll have to wait". Bruce didn't answered. Tony gave him a second glance and then headed for the coffee maker. "We still have coffee, right?"

"Last I checked."

Tony made himself coffee when he saw Bruce's mug and decided to make him tea. He knew he had been a jerk, with both his girlfriend and his science-bro. He took a long sip to his coffee before he went to sit beside the physicist. He let the mug close to him.

"Herbal, no sugar." That got Bruce's attention. He accepted it with a tiny smile. "Look, I… I am sorry. About yesterday, I mean. You know, for being… me."

"I'm not mad at you for being _you_, Tones," Bruce took his glasses off and looked directly in Tony's eyes. "I'm mad at you because you didn't even thought about it. Because getting rid of a baby crossed your mind. _Your_ baby."

"I know, I just…. I don't know what to do, Bruce. I lost her once. Everytime I sleep I see her falling into an endless fire pit, over and over again, and it gets away only when I wake up and I can see her there."

"I… I know, Tony," Bruce reached out and put a hand in the shoulder of the engineer. "I know you are scared, but… I also know we can solve this mess in other ways," Tony half smiled him.

"That's kind of the same thing Nat said."

"And you know," Bruce crossed his arms and leaned again in his chair " I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

" I screwed up too much this time, didn't I?" he asked with a grimace.

"I didn't said anything," Bruce raised his hands in surrender.

" I guess I have to go and clean my mess now," Tony got up and started to head for the exit.

"Wait, I was going to show you this when Pepper came back but… I want you to see something. I think you'll like it," he said, leaving the papers and the mug on the desk. He walked to the lab fridge and took two cristal bottles, one filled with an incandescent blue liquid and the other with glowing orange liquid that Tony recognized immediately.

"You synthesized the Extremis."

"There was no other way I could test the serum. I didn't want to risk Pepper if it turned out it didn't work out"

Bruce took a petri dish, in which it lied a single leaf. He put a little bit of the blue serum in it, so the leaf was covered in proceeded to fill a syringe with the Extremis and injected it. The leaf glowed and started regenerating, only to slow down to an imperceptible pace.

"You neutralized it?" Tony asked.

"No. But this," Bruce hold the Petri dish closer to Tony "will keep the Extremis stable if it is active. It slows it down so there is no way it explodes. Still, it's a temporary solution."

"Why?," Tony took the glass in his hands "it seems safe to me."

"Because I can't make anything else before I do the DNA tests. If your baby have the Extremis there are two possibilities. Either he accepted the virus and we can extract it or he absorbed the virus and it is mingled with his DNA. If that is the case, an attempt to extract it can kill your baby."

" So what you are saying is either I have a normal baby or a sometimes glowy baby."

Bruce chuckled. "Well yes, that's one way to put it"

"So… how are we gonna do this?"

"I have to inject the serum in the amniotic liquid to have it work."

"Pep's going to be very happy that you poke her with a needle" Tony snorted.

"It is for your baby, she is not going to mind."

"I know," Tony hugged him. "You are a genius uncle Brucie!"

* * *

Pepper knew Bruce wouldn't accept an expensive gift. He was living with them after all, and she had the impression he was apologizing for that everytime she looked at him. But Bruce was doing so much for them... and even before that, she considered him part of her family.

So, when she and Natasha walked by a tea store, she knew it would be perfect. The thing was, she knew she needed someone else to deliver it to him in order for him to accept it. Tony, although being the perfect candidate, was unavailable. The only option left was Natasha. Anyway, she had the feeling he had a soft spot for the redhead, if not flinching under her touch said something, even if they were painfully oblivious.

"Do you mind giving this to Bruce?" Pepper handed her a wooden tea box with a note on the cover. "He won't accept it if I give it to him."

"You are gonna be fine by your own?"

"Yes."

"Then sure, I don't see why not."

"Thank you, Nat."

As soon as the assassin left, Tony stormed through the room, desperately wrapping his arms around his girlfriend.

"Tony! What-"

"I'm sorry," He muttered on her ear. Tony was finally sober and clean. "I really am. I was… I am scared," he let go a little so he could see her face. "I can't lose you again, Peps. I know I was an idiot. I know it was our son I was talking about," he started tearing up "but I thought we could try later if that mean you were going to be safe."

"Tony…" Pepper had tears in her eyes too.

"I won't do that again, I promise. But then I wasn't there for you, and my best friend had to call for backup and make me see how stupid I was."

"Tony"

"I should have gone to Bruce to solve it, not to get rid of-"

"Tony!" She grabbed the sides of his head so he could see her.

"What?" he mumbled.

She softly wiped away his tears. "I know."

Tony looked at her eyes for a bit, then he leaned his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. He sighed, relieved, and kissed her softly.


End file.
